Barry McCarthy was the pick of the Durham bowlers, with four wickets yesterday.

Published:08:00Friday 23 June 2017

Bowler Barry McCarthy hailed the positive intent shown by Durham’s batsmen after the Riverside men secured a welcome first Specsavers County Championship Division Two win of the season.

Durham remain bottom of the table, but moved within 22 points of Leicestershire thanks to a comprehensive nine-wicket defeat of Glamorgan.

Irishman McCarthy said: “We had a different mentality to Glamorgan. There was quite a bit in the pitch, but our batsmen went out and played attacking cricket.”

The 24-year-old bowled a long spell yesterday, with Paul Coughlin off the field with a knee problem, and he added: “It was hurting. But when you have a chance of a five-for and to get the team into a winning position you will bowl all day.

“Lukas Carey got after me after I had a word with him, which backfired on me (when he conceded 26 runs in two overs).

“But it’s good to get involved in a bit of confrontation. It got me going a bit and I always felt a few more wickets were just around the corner.”

Durham are back in action at the Emirates Riverside on Monday, with the start of a day-night Championship clash with second-top Worcestershire (2pm start).

Glamorgan coach Robert Croft, whose side paid the price for scoring at barely over two runs an over on day one, said: “We didn’t play up to the standard we need to achieve to be competitive.

“The ball was moving around on the first day and we didn’t score as many as had hoped.

“We wanted to put down a platform to push on and score 400, which would have given us a strong foothold in the game.”